Per the great Abbott & Costello, "Who" is on first, "What" is on second, and "I Don't Know" is what everyone will now be forced to say when asked how big a failure Obamacare has been in providing insurance to the previously uninsured.
The reason? The Census Bureau has suddenly announced that they're changing their long-used survey questions about health insurance, and replacing them with new questions which will make it impossible to compare the new data to historic data, as well as indicating a reduction in the number of uninsured even if no such reduction has taken place, owing to the way the questions are worded.
While this switcharoo obviously provides the Obama administration with a very convenient way to deflect assessment of policy failures (such as the early estimates that Obamacare failed to provide coverage to 98% of the uninsured), critics of the president can at least take comfort from the knowledge that the Census Bureau is entirely non-political and wouldn't ever slant the questions in a deliberate attempt to bury the truth.
Or at least, they were non-political for over a century while under the supervision of the Commerce Department. But that ended when Barack Obama took office in 2009 and immediately seized the Census Bureau and put it under direct White House control.
Of course, the president would never, ever, ever abuse that power and generate corrupt data for purely partisan politics.
That's Valerie Jarrett's job.
16 comments:
(Obligatory "Figures don't lie, but liars figure" comment.)
Per Article 1, Section 2 of the US Constitution, the Census Bureau has the legal authority every 10 years to ask how many people reside in your home. That is all they have the authority to ask. Nothing about your political affiliation, healthcare plan, or shoe size. We are only required to write down one simple number. All the other ridiculous questions can, and should, be left blank.
Wow, sounds like we are almost getting to the parsing stage of discussing what the meaning of "is" is.
What Geoff King said. I have never answered more than how people live in my house. Have yet to be punished.
I agree with Geoff King. Ever since GW Bush (remember THOSE unconstitutional questions!?) I have left everything blank except who lives in our home. Period. If they have a problem with that let them "Come And Take It". *wink*
BTW, have you heard how Harry Rear End Reid thinks that our veterans are Hate Groups?! Really, why is this man still above ground!?
Please give me one, just one example of anything that this SCOAMF has touched that isn't corrupted or destroyed outright.
Didn't think so.
@Manfred - key word is "yet"...
Just ONE PLAY! I would like the "girl who would be king" to be involved in just ONE PLAY on an NFL team against Lyle Alzado or Bill Romanowski... just ONE PLAY!
I'm just surprised that lamont hasn't declared the "Pussy Willow" to be the national tree, in his honor!
When history is a problem, change it or kill it. Just like your subjects. Dirty Harry is the terrorist, not the Nevada cowboys, as Dirty Harry would have us believe (BTW, that is an awful use of the name - I love Dirty Harry movies - "A man has got to know his limitations", which makes Dear Leader not a man).
I will have to remember @Geoff King's comment. And @CenTexTim.
BTW, just who IS on first?
@ Geoff King
I am with you on that point. But how many more than just a handful of patriotic Americans would stand up for themselves and do only what the US Constitution says?
Geoff King - you are correct -- it was my first thought upon seeing the post. All questions but who resides are intrusive and not in the realm of the bureau's business.
As for changing questions to make things incomparable -- that's a polling trick for decades.
As for being counted by the census itself -- I managed to not be counted for decades -- I moved a lot and seemed to be between residences when the busybodies came 'round.
As for a "Conspiracy" I've seen mentioned the past day or so on the Net - why, no -- not at all -- it's so damn obvious it's astounding.
@rickn80r- An apt quote indeed. And let me update my commentary with a couple of tidbits from today's Wall Street Journal...
The "break" in comparable data is deliberate because the Census Bureau could ask the old questions and the new questions in parallel, so Obamacare could be accurately measured. The Census Bureau is, in fact, using such parallel questioning in other areas specifically so that the old demographic data isn't rendered obsolete. But not so with the health insurance questions - by design.
Additionally, Barry made a strident TV appearance yesterday boasting about 8.1 million enrollees in Obamacare. But how many of those people were previously uninsured? There's no way of knowing because the insurance companies, while asking for every other scintilla of your private information, aren't asking if you previously had insurance.
So the tracking tools for Obamacare's efficacy are actively being destroyed. And I am shocked. Shocked!
@Geoff King- I believe you're referring to the "old" Constitution which is kept in a museum somewhere. Today, the Obama administration uses a living Constitution which is squishier and more fluid than quicksilver.
@pdfr- Not that we want anyone to think that we're anti-semantic.
@Manfred- Of course, if you only give them that number, the census takers are free to fill in the rest of the blanks any way they want to. Although they probably do anyway.
@Sparky- I'm with you. If I thought the Census figures were honest, unjiggered, and intended to do actual good, I'd be willing to answer more. But they're not, so I won't.
@TrickyRicky- I got nothin'. I think the only time HnC was able to actually praise Barry was when he gave authorization to use lethal force to end a hostage situation involving Somali pirates.
Ironically, this also turned out to be one of the few times HnC got anything wrong: it turned out that Barry gave the authorization but was then pissed as hell that the Navy Seals did use lethal force. And actions were later taken against the Navy Seals in another case (allegedly slapping a prisoner; the Seals won the case) as petty payback.
@CenTexTim- Too true.
@Bruce Bleu- I'm not a big sports fan, but you've just described a pay-per-view event that I'd cough up good money for. Imagine the slo-mo instant replays from every angle. In 3D...
@Chuck Ef- I think we are seeing a war on history. Not that it's going to be much of a fight in today's culture.
@American Cowboy- Sadly, we'd need a critical mass of Americans standing up for themselves and the Constitution, and I worry (a lot) that the entitlement culture has already turned those numbers against us.
@Jim Hlavac- For the most part, I believe Census data is cherry-picked to justify policies based on political (not demographic) considerations. And of course, a lot of Census data is "extrapolated" (ie, made up) for this same reason.
Nothing to see here. Move along.
Or that is what Obama would like us to think, anyway.
During his presser yesterday, he droned on about the 8 (not 7) million people who've "signed up" for ObamaCare. Still unanswered is just how many of those people have actually paid for and received coverage, or exactly how many of those 8-million only signed up for ObamaCare because they were left no choice after ObamaCare destroyed their previous coverage.
I guess since Sebilius is gone, Obama has to play Baghdad Bob himself. He said that people are trilled with ObamaCare, and the stories of people who are not is simply GOP rhetoric.
Because I just love that I am now paying OVER TWICE WHAT I WAS PAYING EVERY MONTH than I was before ObamaCare passed. My COMPLETE RESENTMENT OF THIS IS A COMPLETE MYTH.
Glad that's settled. The American people don't want to talk about ObamaCare anymore. Move on, there's nothing to complain about here. Let's talk about income inequality, the pay gap, and global warming so that the white-females will show up at the polls come November.
The upside is that this isn't going to work. Pretending that ObamaCare is not a disaster for most Americans is not going to be successful as faux issues like "income inequality", the "gender gap" or "global warming" because unlike those issues, ObamaCare's failure hits most Americans squarely in the face, their jobs, and their wallets.
And will somebody in the media please ask this: Why would anybody accept the notion that ObamaCare is a success from the same man who also claimed that under ObamaCare, "If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan" and "we’ll lower premiums by up to $2,500 for a typical family per year...by the end of my first term as president."?
Backtrack a bit -Frederick Whittemore is a long time co-conspirator with Harry Reid. Harry Reid was investigated by the Senate Ethics Committee regarding land he acquired via Whittemore that suddenly appraised in the $M overnight when Harry Reid expedited a bridge over the Colorado River - Reid's 'land' was in the ROW. Whittemore's relationship with Reid is detailed in: Harvey Whittemore Whittemore was also convicted of illegal campaign donations to good ol' Harry.
Now this land the Bundy's have is next to land that was cleared of tortoises by the BLM so Reid's sons Chinese backed energy company could build a solar farm. ENN Energy wanted to expand the farm over the land the Bundy's claim, though they claim to have abandoned the project. Harry Reid's campaign manager has taken the reins at BLM recently, and now we have an outrageous land grab.
I'm shocked, I tell you! U.S. Politicians, the best money can buy.
IMHO, they ought to give the land back to the indians (most was taken from them to begin with), they would probably be better stewards than BLM!
Jesus Christ is risen indeed! Our only Hope!
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